AL West Notes: Suzuki, Rays, Hernandez, Moore

Former University of Florida catcher Mike Zunino was named the Golden Spikes Award winner today, which recognizes him as the best amateur player in the county. Zunino was the third overall pick by the Mariners in last month's draft and recently signed for $4MM. Here's the latest from his new division, the AL West…

Athletics GM Billy Beane did not deny that he has spoken to the Rays about catcher Kurt Suzuki, reports ESPN's Jim Bowden (on Twitter). Beane did say that he speaks to Tampa GM Andrew Friedman regularly, however.

Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik has given no indication that he's willing to trade Felix Hernandez, but SI.com's Tom Verducci says they should make their ace available. He says the reality of Hernandez's age, workload, and contract should not make him untouchable.

The MarinersdesignatedAdam Moore for assignment last Sunday and have yet to make a decision about what they're going to do with him according to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick (Twitterlinks). The backstop has battled knee problems but agent Mike McCann insists his client is healthy.

The yankees wouldnt let that guy go to boston. the yankees would give up Mason WIlliams,tyler austin,gary sanchez,banuelos,phelps,cito culver and nova with prob one or two more players for hernandez. not to mention the yankees always make a call to seattle for hernandez. but i have a feeling he goes to one of the big market teams he would start sucking.

He goes on to say: “The All-Star Game Tuesday stands as one indication why Seattle is in
this predicament. There you will find Asdrubal Cabrera, Adam Jones,
Bryan LaHair and R.A. Dickey, all former Mariners. In fact, in 2006, the
Mariners had in their system Cabrera, Jones, LaHair, Pineda, Jesus
Guzman, Michael Morse, Shin-Soo Choo, Scott Achison, Travis Blackley,
Doug Fister, Mark Lowe, Brandon Morrow, Eric O’Flaherty and Chris
Tillman. All are gone with very little to show for their departures.”

Thank you Tom Verducci! This certainly won’t change any of the “He’s ours and you can’t have him” crowd… but maybe some of them will think about the option a little more now.

Suzuki would likely show signs of life in that indoor park. No homers this year, but plenty of warning tack power. He handles the picking staff in Oakland pretty well, and plays great defense. Could be a good pickup for Rays.

Not sure what the A’s would realistically want for Suzuki. I know in the offseason they discussed Wade Davis for Suzuki, but the report was that beane wasn’t hot on Davis. They have Norris who although has only played 9 games, looks big league ready. Davis and Brignac for Suzuki?

Almost which 6th SP with the Rays you know? they are a machine for them.

If they could *still* somehow get a package deal for Davis somehow put together and include Suzuki, it would be a coup. Not sure how/who would end up paying Kurt however as Friedman may be one of the guys Beane won’t be able to convince into taking his contract that needs a catcher in a bad way.

Easy win for Crisp if the entire Rays IF doesn’t tackle him and gang up on him again.. Crisp was a GG boxer in his youth, vs a pudgy pitcher.. Easy TKO for Crisp…

Edit:

Apologies.. His dad was the heavyweight pro boxer and his son never fought as a pro, just taught him how to fight.. Had always thought crisp fought as an amateur in the GG ranks until just looking it up.

Lol did Verducci just call us delusional for likeing a guy like Felix who actually stays loyal with the team he has been with his whole career? Go fly a kite dude you and Ken Rosenthall need to stay quiet about trading Felix Z has said no and won’t trade him so your wasting time by writing this garbage.

I know i don’t get it lol these articles about trading Felix are a waste of time i don’t see it you don’t trade your horse for a bunch of prospects that probably won’t even pan out when Felix has indicated that he will stay in Seattle his entire career.

I would be open to a trade if the proposal people offer up aren’t ridiculous. I read an article that a Boston writer offered Lester and Ellsbury for Felix. I mean, seriously? You need to pony up a little (and by little I mean lot) more than that.

Yeah that was Cafardo. Helpful hint for the future, he ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed.

Boston has redeveloped the farm system to the point where they could make a real offer for Hernandez unless the Mariners want major league ready talent. I’d think 2 of Barmes/Bradley/Bogaerts + 2 other prospects.

Verducci has been preaching to trade Felix for close to 3 years now. Considering his age and contract I have yet to figure out why Verducci insists on this. Hernandez is not even at his prime years despite his mileage on his arm. His best years are still ahead of him much like Justin Upton. With the plethora of up and comers the M’s have it makes more sense to keep him and let this young team gel. I am an Angels fan but I see the M’s as a serious threat in about 2 years. The Rangers and Angels both better take note of them and all that young and above average talent they have going for them with the arms and the bats. Only aging stars they have are Ichiro and Ryan (he is not a star but you get the gist of what I mean). But what a core they have with Felix, Walker, Hultzen, Furbush, Noesi (yes he struggled but is young enough to figure things out) on the arms. Ackley, Liddi, Seager, Smoak, Montero, Carp, Saunders and a few others down on the farm. This team has talent they just need to harness it. I would not be shocked if they are division contenders in 2 years as I said before.

At the start of the year i wanted to M’s to have a go at Trumbo. He seemed to be the odd man out at the Angles. So what if he had a low OBP in his rookie year, he had monster power.
David Wright and Joey Votto seemed up for grabs too. Wright could have been had cause Jose Reyes left without being traded.
The Reds could have used the farm help after they traded everything for Mat Latos.

M’s need to trade Ichiro to a National League team in contention that is willing to pay the remaining 7-8 million left on his contract this year and give up the necessary MLB ready talent to secure it. Ichiro goes to a league that is unfamilar with him and he flourishes in a role to help a team to the post season and the M’s get a few more building blocks to the future.

Yes i do know how loyal he is because he had a year left before he signed the extension and he stayed with the Mariners he has said all along he want’s to play for one team and so far he has stayed true to that word i know it’s hard for people to understand loyalty now a days seeing how rare it is.

Exactly. When a guy says he wants to say, especially for a organization like Seattle, he probably the most sincere you could possibly be. And the team trying to get him would need to give up their top 4 or 5 prospects or good young cost controlled major league players.

Actually, it isn’t well thought out. The Mariners can afford Felix @ $25/year for the next ten years. Four years ago we ran out a $116 million payroll. Why would the M’s have signed Felix to a contract that pays him $20 million/year if they couldn’t afford it? And what exactly are they supposed to do with all their savings? Save them? Spend them on players that aren’t as good as Felix?

The poster is suggesting that Felix is nearing free agency and that the M’s are at risk of obtaining a measly 2 draft picks. That is 2.5 years away! Three pennant chases. Two off-seasons to get him resigned. If things look bleak at the deadline next year and Felix sounds uninterested in signing an extension, then we look at trading him.

If by well thought out you meant guessing without researching, then yes, it is well thought out.

That’s the beauty of it all fish… it’s all hypothetical opinions. You fall within my comment of fans not accepting it, where I happen to agree with the posters opinion in that the M’s should “consider” trading him now with the keyword being “consider”. What’s wrong with considering to trade him now and seeing what type of return is possible? As a GM I would hope that Jack Z. is listening to everything and that includes a possible Felix trade. Who’s to say a team out there won’t give up the farm for him? Stranger things have certainly been known to happen.

But really… it’s okay. If they don’t choose to trade him – fine. He’s a great pitcher and I love him on the team, but if you insist that there isn’t any reason whatsoever to look and see what he could potentially bring for a trade, then great. More power to you. 😀

You are a “win now” fan I see. While I know the pain of losing season after losing season (I suffered through this as an Angels fan in the 70’s and 80’s) this team is to deep in talent to implode now. Let them gel. A solid team takes more than a season to grow and the core guys here are very young and will only get better. Patience is the key now for long suffering M’s fans. They will be good I have no doubt as long as they do not get desperate and the win now attitude that you so obviously have.

you, sir, assume too much. Seattle has young talent available, and it IS developing. Felix means so much more to this team than just an elite pitcher. The Seattle Times this morning wrote a big article on his loyalty as a member of the Mariners. He has his own fan section, for crying out loud. And, honestly, as a Mariner fan, i find it highly unlikely that any prospect can be anywhere close to as good as Felix (Prospects that are from trades, fa, etc NEVER work out for us!) If we get two elite prospects, maybe. But chances are that only one would become great, and probably not as good as KF. And God knows we already have enough b grade prospects without adding any more.